TV Ratings: Talladega, GRC LA

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series fall race at Talladega got a boost of interest after perennial fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. took pole, and the TV ratings for Sunday's Alabama 500 brought some welcome good news. NBC's telecast for the ace – in which Earnhardt stayed in contition for the win into the final laps – scored a 2.84 rating and averaged 4.7 million households. That's up from a 2.2/3.6m for this race last year (when it ran a week later in the year) and a full rating point up on last week's disappointing 1.84 at Charlotte, which SportsMediaWatch reported was the lowest rated Cup Series race on broadcast television since at least 2000.

The Earnhardt-boost theory gets more credence given the slight decline for the Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega, which also played before a broadcast network audience on Saturday. The telecast on FOX scored a 0.72 rating and averaging 1.0m viewers. That's down from a 0.85/1.3m last year.

The Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship closed out its season Saturday from the Port of Los Angeles. The NBC telecast of the finale scored a 0.32/425,000 viewers. That's down from a 0.60/898,000 in 2016.